Joseph Muscat's lawyers relentlessly questioned whether the court-appointed expert for the Vitals inquiry was qualified for her role and asked for her qualifications as an accountant.

Miroslava Milenovic, who was appointed by the court as a forensic accountant, testified on her involvement in the Vitals inquiry on Wednesday.

She told the court she was appointed as a court expert in 2019 and had more than 20 years of experience working as an accountant and is a certified fraud specialist. 

Milenovic also said she worked with numerous agencies, including the United Nations and the United States Justice Department. 

Furthermore, she said that in 1984 she obtained a Master's degree in political science, financing of terrorism and money laundering. 

Yet, during cross-examination, defence lawyer Vince Galea questioned Milenovic’s credibility and asked for proof of her qualifications as an accountant. 

After being pressed numerous times by Galea, Milenovic said she never obtained a warrant as an accountant, and that she never mentioned it to the magistrate when she was appointed as she was never asked for it. 

Witness says questioning trying to 'humiliate' her 

During the heated and rowdy cross-examination, Galea asked for the witness to explain her background and qualifications as an accountant. 

Milenovic said she sat for a five-month course in accountancy at an institution in Belgrade, Serbia. 

At first, Milenovic argued that such questions were posed to humiliate her, as she had 20 years of experience as an accountant. 

“This is a type of humiliation,” she said, while Magistrate Rachel Montebello pointed out it is not and that she had to state her qualifications. 

At a point, Galea brought out a copy of the Master’s programme which Milenovic sat for and asked if her Master's included any models on accountancy. 

After back-and-forth comments between the magistrate, Galea and the witness, Milenovic said she did not study any accountancy models during her masters. 

“I applied my knowledge of accountancy,” she stated. 

When asked if she has any degrees in accountancy, Milenovic argued she is a chartered accountant and had previously sat for several exams. She then went to the Associated of Chartered Certificated Accountants (ACCA) and sat for a diploma. 

Keith Schembri. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

‘I am a qualified accountant’

Milenovic argued she never stated she had a degree in accountancy but said she “switched” her career to accountancy. 

“I am a qualified accountant,” she told the court, yet, later clarified she had no accountancy warrant. 

“Did you not inform the magistrate, back when she appointed you as a forensic accountant, that you did not have a warrant,” Galea asked. 

Milenovic said at the time she was not a practising accountant. When pressed again why she did not inform the magistrate, she replied that she was not asked to present any warrant. She said the magistrate had her CV. 

Konrad Mizzi. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Role of Malta Enterprise in due diligence 'unclear'

Earlier during her testimony, Milenovic insisted on focusing on the “bigger picture” and how the Panama Papers scandal was connected to the hospitals concession. 

She said her findings show how the financial practices of companies tied to the Vitals contract were similar to those of the shell companies in Panama and Jersey. 

“I was looking at the bigger picture,” she said.

She said she used “by-book investigations”, such as analysis of the accounts, relationships, bank statements and other relevant documents. 

She said the national audit report made a “huge difference” to her. 

When questioned on the reasoning behind mentioning Malta Enterprise in her report, she said there were documents she was not able to obtain at the beginning of the inquiry.

She said she could not find the due diligence report, and Malta Enterprise's role in the due diligence process was unclear. 

She highlighted how in her report, an email received by Muscat and forwarded to Schembri showed how Muscat was aware of the existence of companies such as Bluestone. She said despite this, Muscat kept Schembri and Mizzi onboard. 

In her testimony, Milenovic said her report also mentioned several articles that mention Muscat, Mizzi and Schembri and their offshore companies. 

She said she thought once news articles had linked politicians or people in power to offshore companies, there would be court cases against them. 

Instead, she said, in Malta, it seemed “okay” to open an off-shore company. 

She also listed several payments made between Steward, Accutor and Shaukat Ali. She said “millions” of euros from public funds were passed on to various companies.

Muscat was represented by lawyers Vince Galea, Luke Dalli, Ishmael Psaila, Charlon Gouder and Etienne Borg Ferranti. 

Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schemrbi were represented by lawyers Edward Gatt, Mark Vassllo and Shaun Zammit. 

The next sitting will take place on November 21.